Prevalencia de melanomas en pacientes de 45 a 80 años atendidos en el Hospital General Monte Sinaí desde mayo del 2023 a mayo del 2024.

Abstract

Introduction: Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer whose incidence has increased in recent decades. In early stages it presents superficially and with high cure rates, but when it invades the dermis, it can metastasize. Objective: To determine the prevalence of melanomas in patients aged 45 to 80 years treated at Mount Sinai General Hospital from May 2023 to May 2024. Methodology: This study had a retrospective, observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional design. The patients' medical records were analyzed, and descriptive statistics were used to express the results. Results: Seventy-eight patients with a diagnosis of melanoma were analyzed. There was a slight male predominance (53.8%) and the most frequent age was 73 to 80 years (33.3%). The majority self-identified as mixed race (73.1%). Regarding BMI, 37.2% were overweight. The most common subtype was superficial disseminated melanoma (78.2%), followed by acral lentiginous melanoma (11.5%). The most frequent location was the upper limbs (35.9%), followed by the trunk (29.4%). A Breslow index of less than 1 mm was found in 62.8%. Among complications, metastasis was the most prevalent (21.8%), followed by systemic inflammatory response syndrome (11.5%) and paraneoplastic syndrome (7.7%). Conclusions: Melanoma is not a highly prevalent cancer, but it significantly impacts quality of life due to its complications, such as metastasis. In our population, its more common form and lesser thickness allowed a longer than expected survival.